His wife, Carrie, who saw him off from their north Lafayette home before dawn Friday, wasn't thrilled about his need to go on this round trip 1,800 miles across the country in a single day. She wanted nothing to do with it. She and others in the family weren't sure how Woodruff would hold up.

An animal activist who worked to crowd-fund the trip wasn't quite sure what to make of his arrival or her role as chauffeur when Woodruff said that, yes, he wanted to see where his daughter, Amanda Miller, died after going on a killing spree on June 8.

Woodruff, himself, didn't know what he'd find. Certainly little sympathy in a city still reeling from the crime, he figured. This was hardly a sympathetic story, he knew.

But he was looking for a way to confront what his daughter did when she pulled the trigger, while still bringing home a piece of her to hold the way only a father can.

"I've been wanting to go out there since this happened," Woodruff said, halting a bit on the word "wanting." "Maybe 'needing' is a better way to put it. … I just get the feeling this is the final chapter in Las Vegas for us."

So on Friday, 83 days after Amanda and Jerad Miller killed two police officers and a bystander, Woodruff came to get his daughter's two cats, Oreo and Leo.

By the end of 21 hours on the road and in the air, Woodruff knew it was probably the last time he'd step foot in Las Vegas again. He had what he wanted. As for the rest, he'd seen enough.

Todd Woodruff carries this photo of his daughter, Amanda Miller, taken for her high school senior year at Jefferson High School. “I don’t know what happened to her,” he said, “but this is how I remember her.”(Photo: Photo provided)

'Sunshine is what I called her'

Woodruff said he's been trying to apologize to anyone who will listen since the morning of June 9, when two Lafayette Police Department officers came to his door on 21st Street to break the news that Amanda Miller, 22, was dead. The police also gave him a rough scenario of what Las Vegas police were saying she and her husband, Jerad Miller, had done.

"My head went kind of numb," Woodruff said. "It just kind of went to a blur after that."

The details took a while to fill in. Every one of those details left him wondering — against the advice of counselors he's been seeing since June — what he could have done differently.

He looked at the picture he carries of Amanda. She's sitting in a purple gown, backed by a trellis of purple, white and gold flowers, and clutching on her lap a white electric violin her parents bought for her during her junior year at Jefferson High School. "Snowflake was what she called it," Woodruff said, sliding the picture across a table. "Sunshine was what I called her. Sweet as could be."

In that high school senior photo of his daughter, Woodruff can't see someone who could do what police were telling him that morning. But he knows she did. He knows a newer picture emerged, sometime after she met and married Jerad Miller in 2012, moved to Nevada in 2014 and walked into that CiCi's Pizza buffet that Sunday.

A poster with the images of the police officers that were killed is shown at a memorial at CiCi's Pizza during a vigil outside the restaurant on June 9, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada.(Photo: Ethan Miller, Getty Images)

Jerad and Amanda Miller found Officers Igor Soldo and Alyn Beck and shot them, execution style, as policemen ate their lunch. The couple went to a nearby Walmart, where Jerad Miller announced to shoppers: "The revolution has started. The cops are coming. Get out!" He fired a shot in the air to make sure everyone knew he was serious, sending everyone running. When Joseph Wilcox, a bystander with a permit to carry a concealed weapon, confronted Jerad Miller, Amanda Miller shot and killed Wilcox. The couple, carrying ready-to-eat meals and armed with armor-piercing ammunition, set up a position in the store for a fight, but not before Amanda Miller was shot in the shoulder by one of the first officers in the store. Moments after Jerad Miller shouted to police — "Stand down. You have failed. I am in charge now" — police shot and killed him. Amanda Miller shot herself in the head and died later at a Las Vegas hospital.

The picture of Jerad and Amanda Miller that emerged was of a couple of outliers, angry at the government, angrier at the police and willing to bring on a revolution by themselves.

Woodruff said people on his block and friends in Lafayette — "and some friends we didn't know we had" — provided some buffer and comfort, refusing to pile on. "Lafayette circled around us real tight — protected us."

Woodruff still couldn't square the picture he carries in his pocket with the one that filled the news and the Internet. He couldn't kid himself, though.

"I have apologized all over myself," Woodruff said. "That's one of the things about it, after I got to sit down and think about it a few weeks later. After these other shootings, I can't look at (other) shooter's parents anymore and say, 'What kind of upbringing did he have?' because I know what her upbringing was, so I can't blame the parents (in those other cases), because she wasn't brought up that way. And she still did it. That changes your whole way of thinking."

Todd Woodruff and Gina Greisen, president of Nevada Voters for Animals, pick out bouquets of flowers at a Trader Joe’s store in Las Vegas. Woodruff bought the flowers to leave at a Walmart and a Cici’s pizza restaurant where his daughter, Amanda Miller, and her husband, Jerad Miller, killed two police officers and a bystander on June 8. Woodruff also planned to leave flowers for his daughter, who killed herself during a standoff with police that day at the Walmart. Greisen led a crowd-funding effort to save the Millers’ two cats and get them back to Woodruff’s family in Lafayette.(Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

About the cats

Gina Greisen wasn't thinking about apologies or anything else when she started the ball rolling on Woodruff's trip to Las Vegas.

She had seen Oreo and Leo in footage of the initial news coverage of June 8. Several weeks ago, she found out that one of the Millers' neighbors, who said she would care for the cats, had left them at a shelter. Greisen arranged to get the cats, put them in a foster home and started looking for a permanent home for them.

"I had a cat hoarder who asked for help with 20 cats, and it turned out she left off the hundred," Greisen said. "I could not get one person to take even one stinking kitten that day, let along two adult cats that are tied to such a high-profile incident."

So she called the Woodruffs, started a crowd-funding campaign to cover veterinarian bills and to raise $1,000 for a flight for Todd Woodruff and the two cats, and set a Labor Day weekend deadline to get it done. She raised $700 toward a $1,500 goal on GoFundMe.com. Woodruff said a donor in Lafayette who asked not to be named fronted the money for the plane ticket.

In the deal, Greisen agreed to cart Woodruff around town. But not without some trepidation.

"It's a weird situation. I'm sure I'll be labeled a lot of things for doing this, or for taking him to the Wal-Mart or the CiCi's Pizza or whatever," Greisen said. "Obviously, there's very mixed emotions. I think it's very hard for people to come to terms and accept that when something like that happens, like you can't hold the cats accountable for the sins of the owner, can you hold the parents accountable? I don't know. This community, obviously, holds some nasty feelings toward the Woodruffs. But honestly, they seem like nice people to me.

"He really mourns the loss of his daughter," Greisen said. "But the reality is, his daughter put a gun to a police officer's head and pulled the trigger, and then killed another guy, too. So it's hard. That's hard. I sat here and watched those officers' funerals. The whole community did. So this is going to be emotional. Hopefully, he can find some peace."

On Friday, Aug. 29, Todd Woodruff of Lafayette made his first — and what he says will be his last — visit to Las Vegas since his daughter, Amanda Miller, and her husband, Jerad Miller, killed two police officers and a bystander on June 8. Here's a look at his one-day round trip to Las Vegas to see where his daughter committed her crime, the Walmart where she died and to bring home the cats she left behind.(Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

At Wal-Mart killing scene: 'Just empty'

After a stop for coffee after landing at Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, Greisen pulled into the parking lot of Wal-Mart on North Nellis Boulevard. As Wal-Marts go, it is considerably smaller than the three Super Wal-Marts in Lafayette and West Lafayette.

Woodruff stood about a hundred yards from the entrance, pulling a Marlboro from the pack in his pocket. He stared at the sign in the distance. He looked away a couple of times, trying to screw up the nerve to walk in.

"I feel empty right now," Woodruff said. "Just empty."

Inside, he made his way past the greeters and the checkout lanes, working his way back to the far corner of the store. Later he'd say he thought everyone was staring at him and that the store felt like it was closing in on him.

But for the most part, shoppers were trying to navigate tight aisles and stockers filling end-cap shelving with specials. This Wal-Mart, two months after a police shootout, feels like any other Wal-Mart.

Woodruff didn't stop at the sporting goods counter, where reports say Jerad and Amanda Miller smashed glass to stock up on ammunition before police arrived. Woodruff headed to the back corner, to an automotive section familiar from security camera video from June 8.

Woodruff stopped in his tracks next to shelves stocked with motor oil and antifreeze. He put his hand on the back of his neck and stared blankly. He found a black mark on the floor, squatting to rub the spot he suspected could be a bullet mark.

Then he stood and started walking back to the front of the store.

"That's good enough for me," Woodruff said. "Come on, Sunshine, let's take you home. Let's go get your kitties and take them home."

Outside, Woodruff said he wanted to backtrack Amanda and Jerad Miller's walk from the CiCi's Pizza to the Wal-Mart, just so he could gauge how long it might have taken. But on the way, he stopped to rub tears from his eyes.

"It was like she was there, but she wasn't, you know?" he said. "I felt like I was talking right to her. Like I was getting her out of there."

The CiCi's Pizza is across Stewart Avenue. You can see the back of the Wal-Mart from the restaurant's strip mall parking lot.

"I thought it was going to be a lot farther," Woodruff said, sweating under temperatures already in the mid-90s by late morning. "It's just right there."

When he landed, Woodruff hadn't planned to go to the CiCi's Pizza. He was afraid of drawing attention to himself in a way that would be seen as disrespectful to the police officers Amanda and Jerad Miller killed there. But Greisen had run Woodruff by a Trader Joe's to pick out bouquets of flowers for him to lay at the door.

"With all the senseless actions in the world, this is one of the most senseless — and to have it hit so close to home," Woodruff said. "I think of those officers every day. I still don't get it."

On Friday, Aug. 29, Lafayette's Todd Woodruff went to Las Vegas to see the places where his daughter, Amanda Miller, and her husband, Jerad Miller, killed three on June 8.

A crew from KLAS, a local CBS affiliate tipped off that Woodruff was in town, interviewed Woodruff outside the CiCi's Pizza. Woodruff spent part of the interview apologizing for what his daughter did, part of it unloading on Jerad Miller — yes, he said, it's true that he threw up before walking Amanda down the aisle for the wedding to a man he considered a terrible influence — and the rest recounting his thoughts since June.

He recoiled slightly when the crew asked if he could name the officers his daughter killed and probing whether he understood how deeply June 8 scarred Las Vegas.

When the camera went off, Woodruff was ready to get away.

"We're all victims here, in some way," Woodruff said. "I don't know if I expect people in Vegas to understand or agree. But it's how I feel."

Todd Woodruff tries to win over Oreo, his daughter’s cat, with the scent of his daughter’s old slippers. A foster family had been caring for Oreo and another cat, Leo, since Woodruff’s daughter died on June 8. A crowd-funding effort was started to get the cats back to Lafayette. Woodruff made the trip to Las Vegas to get the cats on Friday, Aug. 29.(Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Coming home

Woodruff brought a pair of Amanda's favorite slippers, "Nightmare Before Christmas" models. He hoped any scent from his daughter would be a calming influence for Oreo and Leo.

After a tearful handoff with the foster family and a stop at a PetSmart to get supplies, Woodruff bought boarding passes for Oreo and Leo at the airport ticket counter. (Full disclosure: Woodruff asked, because the Journal & Courier was on the same flight, if one of the cats could be checked and stowed under the reporter's seat.)

As Woodruff boarded, Leo was able to escape momentarily. "The cat's out of the bag," a flight attendant shouted, jokingly. Woodruff corralled the cat in the aisle of the packed plane.

And for the next several hours, Woodruff spent the trip home bouncing between emotions.

"I can tell you I'm done with Vegas," he said as the day sunk in and Friday turned into Saturday morning. "Whenever I see the word 'Vegas,' I'll see her killing those cops. I'm sorry it happened. And I'm sorry it's true. If I don't ever see the word 'Vegas' again, it'll be too soon. I'm never going back."

As for what he brought home?

"Peace," Woodruff said. "I was nervous, but I'm so glad I went. I'm at peace. … I'm bringing home the part of the Amanda I know home with me. She was just the sweetest with these cats. You should have seen her with these cats. That's what I'll remember and keep. My baby girl's back — at least the one I know."

On Friday, Todd Woodruff of Lafayette made his first — and what he says will be his last — visit to Las Vegas since his daughter, Amanda Miller, and her husband, Jerad Miller, killed two police officers and a bystander on June 8. Here's a look at his one-day round trip to see where his daughter committed her crime, the Wal-Mart where she died and to bring home the cats she left behind. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff holds a necklace that contains the ashes of his daughter, Amanda Miller, as he waits Friday at Indianapolis International Airport for a flight to Las Vegas. He was making a one-day round trip to pick up two cats left behind after his daughter and her husband, Jerad Miller, killed two Las Vegas police officers and a bystander and then died in a gun battle with police on June 8. Woodruff's locket reads, "My Sunshine," along with her date of birth and death. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff waits for his Friday flight in Indianapolis.“I’ve been wanting to go out there since this happened,” Woodruff said of Las Vegas. “Maybe ‘needing’ is a better way to put it." Woodruff said he hoped the trip would give him a chance to pay respects to those killed, as well as get some closure about what his daughter did. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff tries to catch some sleep Friday during the first leg of a one-day round trip to Las Vegas. An anonymous donor covered the cost of his flight to pick up the two cats left behind by his daughter, Amanda Miller. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

After landing in Las Vegas, Todd Woodruff buys a pair of pet carriers he'll use to carry his daughter's cats, Oreo and Leo, from Las Vegas to Indianapolis. The cats were taken in by a foster family after his daughter and her husband, Jerad Miller, killed two police officers and a bystander in Las Vegas on June 8. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff and Gina Greisen, president of Nevada Voters for Animals, pick out bouquets of flowers at a Trader Joe's store in Las Vegas. Woodruff bought the flowers to leave at a Wal-Mart and a CiCi's pizza restaurant where his daughter, Amanda Miller, and her husband, Jerad Miller, killed two police officers and a bystander on June 8. Woodruff also planned to leave flowers for his daughter, who killed herself during a standoff with police that day at the Wal-Mart. Greisen led a crowdfunding effort to save the Millers' two cats and get them back to Woodruff's family in Lafayette. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff, father of Amanda Miller, gathers himself before going into a Wal-Mart where his daughter and her husband, Jerad Miller, killed a bystander and then had a standoff with police on June 8. "I feel empty right now," Woodruff said. "Just empty." (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff, father of Amanda Miller, gathers himself before going into the Wal-Mart where his daughter and her husband, Jerad Miller, killed a bystander and then had a standoff with police on June 8. "I feel empty right now," Woodruff said. "Just empty." (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff walks into the Wal-Mart where his daughter, Amanda Miller, and her husband, Jerad Miller, took gunshots that killed them, after they killed two police officers and a bystander on June 8. "I just need to see where it happened," Miller said. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff finds his way to a back corner aisle of a Las Vegas Wal-Mart, near where his daughter, Amanda Miller, and her husband, Jerad Miller, tried to barricade themselves in the store against police. Earlier, they had killed two officers at a nearby CiCi's pizza restaurant and another man at the Wal-Mart. A shaky Woodruff, after kneeling on the floor for a moment and crying, stood up and said, "That's good enough for me. Come on, Sunshine, let's take you home. Let's go get your kitties and take them home." (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff pauses as he makes his way through a Las Vegas Wal-Mart where his daughter, Amanda Miller, and her husband, Jerad Miller, tried to make a stand against police on June 8. “I still can’t make sense of it,” Woodruff said. “I just can’t. … I feel like I can’t apologize enough for what happened, you know?” (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff pauses as he makes his way through a Las Vegas Wal-Mart where his daughter, Amanda Miller, and her husband, Jerad Miller, tried to make a stand against against police on June 8 after killing two police officers and another man. “I still can’t make sense of it,” Woodruff said. “I just can’t. … I feel like I can’t apologize enough for what happened, you know?” (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Backtracking the path police say his daughter, Amanda Miller, and her husband, Jerad Miller, took on a deadly spree on June 8, Todd Woodruff stops to wipe his eyes. On Aug. 29, 83 days later, Woodruff made the trip to Las Vegas to try to come to grips with his daughter's crime. He said it was the first time he'd walked into a Wal-Mart since June 8. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff leaves flowers at the front door of the CiCi’s Pizza restaurant where his daughter, Amanda Miller, and her husband, Jerad Miller, killed two Las Vegas police officers. “With all the senseless actions in the world, this is one of the most senseless – and to have it hit so close to home. … I think of those officers every day. I still don’t get it. I don’t get it.” (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff peeks in the office of the apartment complex near the corner of Fremont and Bruce, near downtown Las Vegas, where his daughter, Amanda Miller, lived before she died. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff brought the “Nightmare Before Christmas” slippers of his daughter, Amanda Miller, hoping that her cats, Oreo and Leo, might be comforted by a familiar smell when he picks them up from a foster family in Las Vegas. Woodruff on Friday made the trip to Las Vegas to get the cats. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff brought the “Nightmare Before Christmas” slippers of his daughter, Amanda Miller, hoping that her cats, Oreo and Leo, might be comforted by a familiar smell when he picks them up from a foster family in Las Vegas. Woodruff made the trip to Las Vegas on Friday. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff holds Leo, his daughter's year-old cat, as well as his daughter's old slippers. A foster family had been caring for Leo and another cat, Oreo, since Woodruff's daughter died on June 8. A crowdfunding effort was started to get the cats back to Lafayette. On Friday, Woodruff made the trip to Las Vegas to get the cats. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)

Todd Woodruff holds Oreo, one of two cats he came to get in Las Vegas in a one-day round trip on Friday. In the background is Tina Richards, part of the family that fostered the cats during a crowdfunding effort to get the cats back to the Woodruffs in Lafayette. (Photo: Dave Bangert/Journal & Courier)